ORIGINAL: jessiej
Don't worry about shelf life. I have built kits that were 40+years old with no problem, and have some excelent 50 year old balsa among my supplies. It should be a great model and build up nicely, but as advised by others on this forum have a bit of experience under your belt before building/flying it. Enjoy!
Complete agreement. It would be a shame to have a beginner try to tackle a classic kit and mess it up. Much better to build a few easier kits first and save this one for when his skills are ready for the challenge.